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I think the quoted statement is as true as investors in companies aren't owners of the underlying bank accounts and don't have any relationship with those banks.

It's true that an index fund investor doesn't get to vote in company elections, get company reports, etc. But the funds generally follow their policies and what not, so it provides a lower effort way to invest in a multitude of companies. The current regime of zero comissions and fractional share trading makes it more possible to self index, but it's a lot less work to buy shares in one of the many competing low-cost index funds.